K101. How did Jesus preach repentance?

Luk 15:4-7 KJV  What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  (5)  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  (6)  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.  (7)  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Did Jesus tell us to repent by doing nothing?
Some preachers say, "Yes, in the parable above, Jesus did preach repentance; but He preached repentance which needs no 'repentance' from us. In another words, the gospel is to focus on His 'repentance works'; not on our own repentance works. Haven't you read how He would leave the ninety nine sheep, go after the lost sheep, find it, lay it on His shoulder, call everyone, rejoice over it, and celebrate? It is all about His works and His efforts to find us and save us; not about us or our own repentance works. Hence, we are saved by His finished work. In the parable above, did the sheep confess sins, make recompense, or do anything in its own repentance? No, likewise, we should repent like the sheep by just doing one thing, i.e.  by doing nothing, by resting on His shoulder, by allowing Him to love us or carry us, or by knowing Him rejoicing over us. That is true repentance. Just change our mind to rest on Him without any struggle, and have only good opinion about Him."

I will tell them, Yes, that is really deep. I think those who think like your sheep and love your kind of 'do nothing' teaching would applaud your wisdom if you would quote from another parable and tell them that they can just take no thought about tomorrow and repent like the birds too:
Mat 6:25-34 KJV  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  (26)  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ..  (33)  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  ..

There is the risk of using a wrong metaphor and it can backfire
I don't know about you, but I know that there are people who felt insulted when their metaphor could not be interpreted correctly. A teacher shared with me how the use of a metaphor in his class has become a joke. He said that one of his students in the class complained and shouted at him, "Teacher, why do you teach us all these programming codes which we can never understand? You are 'teaching the fish to climb the trees' !" But another student immediately shouted back, "HELLO, YOU ARE NOT A FISH; YOU ARE A HUMAN" ! The first student became very angry and shouted back, "Are you stupid? It's just a metaphor ! Of course, I know that I AM HUMAN,  but YOU ARE STUPID .. " And the whole class laugh.
Of course, I laughed too when I first heard about it. But now I cannot laugh anymore because there are now preachers who preach the metaphor of the Lord without really knowing it or understanding the true meaning of the metaphor and they are bringing countless people into confusion and destruction.

Jesus would not want us to repent like the sheep or animals
Obviously Jesus would not want us to repent like the sheep, like the birds, like the fish, or like any animals. No, Jesus wants us to repent as sinners (who know sin, confess it, and turn from it), but not to repent like the animals. He used the metaphor (of the lost sheep) only to show that we should be obedient like the sheep; it does not mean obeying like a sheep to the extent of doing nothing or thinking nothing about our sins.
If Jesus would just wants us to repent like a sheep or an animal, I would think that my dog can do it better. It is because my dog used to bite; but it has changed its mind and would just wag its tail now.
No, of course, nobody would use that analogy to describe repentance. Furthermore dogs and animals do not sin whether they bite or do not bite. They do not think or know what is sin. Hence, they can never repent.
If Jesus would just wants us to repent like a sheep or a fish, it would not make sense for Him to teach us to confess our sins, pray for God's forgiveness of our sins, repent, and do His commands, so that we will receive the salvation and life of God (For our info, the fish and the sheep can never climb any trees; neither can they confess any sins):
Luk 11:4 KJV .. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Luk 19:8-10 KJV  And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.  (9)  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.  (10)  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Mat 7:24 KJV  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Rev 3:2-3 KJV  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.  (3)  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Rev 22:12-14 KJV  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (13) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  (14)  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

God's preachers should never use the wrong metaphor to preach the wrong repentance
I know that I may offend some preachers, but I must say it, Yes, we can obey like the sheep but we should never repent like the sheep, the sheep don't repent or think, the sheep can only 'Baaaaa'. The fish can only swim; it cannot think, so we would never repent like the fish. Neither do we repent like the birds too. Yes, the birds would take no thought about tomorrow; but it also means that the birds cannot think too. Obviously Jesus would not want us to repent like the sheep or like any animal although He did use the metaphor to illustrate the obedience of the sheep, the innocence of the doves, the carefree spirit of the birds, the fierceness of the wolfs, or the cunningness of the serpents.
Hence, when I hear a preacher asking the people to repent like the sheep, I will ask myself, What is he trying to do? To repent like a sheep? Probably all those who hear him are really 'sheep' who cannot think anymore. May God help us !

There will be great celebration only if there is repentance
If we go back to the top and read the parable again (Luk 15:4-7), we know that it is a parable about celebration. It is also the parable of God finding us; not we finding God. But God can find us because we repented. It is like the father finding his prodigal son. But, if the prodigal son did not repent and come back, the father could never find him. He could only wait for him at the gate of the city or house. But when the son repented and turned from the world, the father could then find him and greet him at the gate. There was a great celebration because he was once 'lost'; but now he is 'found'. Hence, the meaning of being 'found' is not because the father literally went around to look for his son and found him; it means that the son repented and did something (turned from the world and went home) to be found by the father. This meaning is the same consistently throughout all the parables of Jesus - we do not let God do the repentance for us; we do the repentance ourselves, and that will surely bring a great celebration in heaven:
Luk 14:16 KJV Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
Luk 15:7 KJV I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Rev 19:7-9 KJV  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  (8)  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  (9)  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

There are many who could have 'almost' repented or entered
1. Mat 7:20-23 KJV  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  (21)  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; .. (22)  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not .. ..  (23)  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Mat 7:23 LITV  And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; "depart from Me, those working lawlessness!")
2. Mat 22:11-14 KJV  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:  (12)  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.  (13)  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  (14)  For many are called, but few are chosen.
3. Mat 25:1-13 KJV  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.  (2)  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  .. (11)  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.  (12)  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.  (13)  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Hence, according to the Lord's parables and His doctrine, to enter the kingdom of God with true repentance, we must truly repent - without fruitlessness, lawlessness, or foolishness. But does it mean that all of us who are foolish will go to hell and all those who are wise will go to heaven? Of course, not. Jesus was not referring to the physical lack of good works, good behaviours, or good wisdom; He was referring to the spiritual lack which could be fruitlessness, lawlessness, or foolishness in the spirit.
Of course, there are people who are foolish, but they are still wise spiritually, and vice versa (i.e. there are wise people who are spiritually foolish too).
In fact, there are many church people or believers who may never break the laws; but spiritually, they are lawless in God's eyes. They are called the 'workers of iniquities' or 'workers of lawlessness' (Mat 7:22). However, there are also sinners (or prodigal sons) who may have broken the laws; but spiritually they still have the laws in their hearts or minds because they repented.
Hence, in that day, many church believers, including the preachers, who think that they are more righteous than others, may not know that they are spiritually lawless in God's eyes. They are spiritually blinded and they will complain against those who will receive grace to repent and keep the laws of God. They may preach against the elder brother who complained against his prodigal brother; but ironically, they are the 'elder brother' who complain now:
Luk 15:28-30 KJV And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. (29) And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:  (30)  But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

If there are sheep who are saved, there are still wolves who can 'kill' too
Many will still argue, "Have you really read Luk 15:4-7? It is about the 100 sheep and only one of them was lost? They are all believers. 'Sheep' are believers. Even the one who was lost will be saved ultimately. Hence, if all the (100) sheep are saved ultimately, all the believers are saved ultimately too, irrespective of whether they will repent or not."
I will tell them, Yes, there could be '100' sheep and only 'one' was lost. You may want to feel comforted to know that all the '100' sheep or the majority of you are saved ultimately. However, the Lord did not tell us how many wolves were there? What if there were '100' wolves, or '200' wolves, against the '100' sheep in the kingdom of God? Hence, it is still serious enough for us to take heed of His warning.
I will tell them, If you believe that all the believers are the sheep, you must believe that many false prophets or false believers are the wolves too, and that the wolves can eat the sheep or kill the sheep. If you believe rightly that the 'sheep' is an accurate picture of us (the believers), then you must believe it consistently throughout and beware of the 'wolves' too.
Mat 7:15-22 KJV  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  (16)  Ye shall know them by their fruits. .. (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Act 20:28-31 KJV  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  (29)  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  (30)  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  (31)  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Mat 10:14-16 KJV  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.  (15)  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.  (16)  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Many of us think that the Lord would send us out as sheep in the midst of the non-believers (who are the wolves). However, I do not think that Jesus was referring to the the non-believers or sinners when He said that there were wolves; Jesus was referring to the false prophets or false believers who were wolves. They are wolves not because they are more lawless or more wicked than the sinners; they are wolves because they preach false doctrine which will destroy God's doctrine and God's people.

The word 'many' does not mean '100' or '200'; it means 'many'
Many wolves will still keep on arguing with the hope that nobody will take heed in that day. They can argue with us because Jesus has prophesied that these wolves (or false prophets) can preach or prophesy in His name in that day. They will still argue and say, "Jesus said that there are 100 sheep who are saved but only one sheep was lost and it was still found in the end. So, we do not deny that there are wolves, but in real life there are only a few, compared with the 'many' number of sheep we have in the kingdom of God. Why must you cause fear and condemnation by saying, 'What if there were 100 wolves or 200 wolves?' it is purely your own speculation. Jesus did not say it."
I will tell them, Yes, I agree that it was my own speculation, of course; otherwise, I would not say 'What if ...'. I just want to use the number to show that there are 'many' wolves, probably more than what we know. Did Jesus say it? Yes, of course, He said:
Mat 7:15-22 KJV  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (16) Ye shall know them by their fruits .. .. (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
It means that 'many' wolves will deceive many sheep although we do not know the exact number.
However, do you notice that these wolves can deceive many sheep because these wolves can preach and prophesy in the name of the Lord? They can do many 'wonder'-ful works too. It could be some good works, but more likely, it could be 'many' miracles or testimonies which will make us 'wonder', but in reality, they are performed to deceive 'many' sheep and believers. When we see 'many' wolves rise up with many 'wonder'-ful works which deceive 'many' sheep, we know that the prophecy of the Lord has been fulfilled amazingly again.

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